Hong Kong: Home

As the last part of my Asia trek, I got to make a quick stop in Hong Kong to see family and to visit with a few NGOs that work with labor activists in China. Such a frenzied three day stay, but I was glad to suddenly be in a big modern city after Jakarta. I definitely threw down my luggage and sprinted for the closest Chinese charcuterie rice plate joint. O roast duck and BBQ pork!

Using Cantonese in a professional setting to discuss labor policy was an intense experience because it was stressful to figure out how to say something like "collective bargaining." But after picking up terms through osmosis from my first few conversations, the rest of the day was still tiring but manageable.

I realize that siu mai is not really what Tim Ho Wan (cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world) is known for, and the fried BBQ buns were all kinds of delicious. HOWEVER, these were probably among the most well-done siu mai I've ever had. I had gotten up early to get in the line that wrapped around the block in Mong Kok, gotten a number, and then ran off to have a pre-breakfast of jook and cheung fun before racing back. Fast metabolism, don't ever leave me please.

I really liked the area of Mong Kok where my hotel was located. It was right by all the eateries (and pet shops?) and the MTR stops were only a few minutes away. The two pictures I took above were Mong Kok before the city woke up since I had to get up at the arse crack of dawn to go renew my Hong Kong identification card. Not surprisingly, the immigration officials in Hong Kong are downright friendly compared to their counterparts in the United States. There were smiles and there were ganbares for working on behalf of workers. My aunt was awesome enough to come make sure the whole process went okay, and she even brought me a chiffon roll and a Vitasoy.

After our quick government interaction, my grandparents showed up and we got a second breakfast of fish jook and cheung fun. I hadn't seen them in about seven or eight years, and like the adorable old people they are, they look exactly the same. 

Filled with carbs, we then planned out our trip to Tian Tan Buddha out on Lantau Island. 

The fog was so dense that it became a game of which grandparent I would lose to the mist monsters first. And we had no idea where the giant statute was until we were in front of it. Eventually I corralled them both and we plunged into the fog together. I don't know why I forget that it's not worth the money to see the museum inside the statue. The pinnacle of the tour is a view into a chamber of thick glass where they have the    physical baubles that remain when monks' bodies are burnt?

Me and Grandma!

Me and the happy brood of relatives on my Mom's side. We had just had a lot of dim sum, so mmm.

Above the last meal I had in Hong Kong with my aunt Galaxy and my grandparents before jetting back to the States! 

I sometimes wonder how life would have been different if my parents hadn't left in 1990 for San Francisco. My parents often point out that if we had stayed, I probably wouldn't have gotten into one of the universities in Hong Kong since it's just such an intense crush of people all vying for too few spots. 

And then I think, "But the dim sum!"